. >> ifill: but at today's hearings, national rifle association vice president wayne lapierre pushed back insisting that the real solution to gun violence is to enforce existing laws. >> unfortunately, we've seen a dramatic collapse in federal gun prosecutions in recent years. overall in 2011, federal weapons prosecutions per capita were down 35% from their peak in the previous administration. that means violent felons, gang members and the mentally ill who possess firearms are not being prosecuted. and that's unacceptable. proposing more gun control laws, while failing to enforce the thousands we already have is not a serious solution to reducing crime. >> ifill: several committee republicans endorsed that argument. >> i would call on president obama to call in attorney general eric holder and ask him why the prosecutions have dropped dramatically across all categories of federal gun laws. >> i have a hard time telling my constituents in texas that congress is looking at passing a whole raft of new laws when the laws that we currently are so woefully unenforced. >> ifill: committee